1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an array substrate, a method of manufacturing the array substrate and a method of repairing the array substrate. More particularly, the present invention relates to an array substrate for a liquid crystal display (“LCD”) panel, a method of manufacturing the array substrate and a method of repairing the array substrate, wherein adverse effects due to static electricity are substantially reduced and/or effectively prevented.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a liquid crystal display (“LCD”) panel includes an array substrate including a thin-film transistor (“TFT”) as a switching element to drive a pixel, an opposing substrate facing the array substrate, and a liquid crystal layer disposed between the array substrate and the opposing substrate. An image is displayed on the LCD panel by controlling a light transmittance of the liquid crystal layer, which changes according to a voltage applied thereto. The array substrate is typically divided into a display area for displaying the image and a signal providing area, e.g., a peripheral area, surrounding the display area. Unit pixels including the TFT and a pixel electrode formed in a pixel region are disposed in the display area.
The array substrate is typically manufactured by forming the TFTs and the pixel electrodes on a mother substrate for the array substrate, and then cutting the mother substrate into cell units. The mother substrate for the array substrate usually includes a guard ring used as static electricity dispersion wiring in attempts to minimize damage due to static electricity generated during manufacturing of the array substrate. The guard ring is disposed adjacent to an outside of a cutting line of the unit cell on the mother substrate. The guard ring is meant to disperse the static electricity generated at the mother substrate to the entire mother substrate to prevent a defect such as a short circuit or an open circuit in regions of the mother substrate. However, the ability of the guard ring to disperse the static electricity is limited.
In the LCD, signal lines in the display area include gate lines which transmit gate signals and data lines which transmit data signals. The gate lines and the data lines are extremely delicate. Therefore, the data line, for example, often becomes disconnected during manufacturing of the array substrate. As a result, the data signal will not be transmitted to the data line in the LCD and thus the array substrate must be discarded. When the array substrate is discarded because of the disconnection of the data line, a productivity of manufacturing the array substrate is significantly decreased.
In attempts to solve the above-described problem, a method using redundancy, e.g., an additional line such as a repair line, is generally used. Normally, the repair line is electrically separated from the signal line by an insulation layer between the repair line and the signal line. However, when the data line is disconnected, a crossing section of the repair line and the disconnected data line is connected using a laser. Therefore, even though a portion of the data line is disconnected, the unit pixels connected to the disconnected data line may be normally operated through the repair line.
However, the repair line acts as a stepping stone for introducing static electricity generated at the guard ring into the display area. Moreover, the static electricity introduced into the display area through the repair line damages the signal wiring and the pixel electrode, and the productivity of the array substrate is further decreased.